Access Week In Geek: A New ‘Wonder Woman’ Candidate? (January 28, 2011)

In the Access “Week In Geek,” what developments took place regarding Wonder Woman’s return to TV? Which of this year’s Oscar nominees will be seen in upcoming movies based on comic books? Plus, casting news for “The Hobbit,” “Battlestar Galactica” and Ridley Scott’s upcoming “Alien” film, “Prometheus.”

“WONDER WOMAN” UPDATE – Wonder Woman’s return to television via a reboot from David E. Kelley took another step closer to reality when it was green lit for a pilot by NBC last week. According to TVLine, McG, the man behind both of the high octane “Charlie’s Angels” films starring Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz, has emerged as a frontrunner to direct the pilot episode. McG is easily an inspired choice given his “Angels” resume, and ability to handle strong female characters in big action settings.

Lake Bell (“It’s Complicated,”“Children’s Hospital”) expressed her interest in portraying the Amazon Princess in an interview with E! Online.

“On my lists of things to do in my life – I mean, I campaign for it – is, I just want to play a superhero at some point,” she revealed.
“And I’m fine with kicking a guy’s ass,” Bell said. “I’ll be honest, I think I’d make a great Wonder Woman. So if anyone out there is listening…”
Bell previously worked with David E. Kelley on both “The Practice” and its spin-off “Boston Legal,” so I’m sure if the interest is there, phone calls can be easily made.

WHICH SUPERHEROES ARE ATTENDING THE OSCARS? – The Oscar nominees were announced on Tuesday, and expect to see many of the stars on the red carpet in some of your favorite films based on comic book in the near future. We can start off with host Anne Hathaway, who was just cast as Catwoman’s alter ego, Selina Kyle, in “The Dark Knight Rises.” Best Supporting Actress Nominee for her breakout role in “Winter’s Bone,” Jennifer Lawrence, will play the young blue mutant Mystique in “X-Men: First Class.” Three big screen superheroes are in the running for Best Supporting Actor. Two of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes from Marvel’s “The Avengers” will be pitted against each other — Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), nominated for his role in “The Town,” shares the category with Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/The Hulk), who earned his nod in “The Kids Are All Right.”

Not to be outdone in this category, Batman himself, Christian Bale, is nominated for “The Fighter.” Christopher Nolan, whose “Inception” was nominated for Best Picture (but was snubbed for a Best Director nom), will complete his Batman trilogy with Bale with “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Natalie Portman, the frontrunner for Best Actress for her role in “Black Swan,” will be seen in “Thor”as the Norse God of Thunder’s mortal love interest, Jane Foster. Portman’s “Black Swan” helmer Darren Aronofsky (also nominated in the Best Director category), is set to re-team with 2009’s Oscar host Hugh Jackman on “The Wolverine” (a stand alone adventure for the popular “X-Men” mutant). The two previously worked together on “The Fountain.”

CASTING NEWS – Entertainment Weekly revealed that Syfy has cast the young William Adama for “Blood & Chrome,” the upcoming second prequel series to “Battlestar Galactica.” Luke Pasqualino, who was previously seen on the UK version of “Skins,” will portray the character that Edward James Olmos played in “BSG.”

“Blood & Chrome,” set decades before “BSG” (but after the recently cancelled “Caprica”), will follow Adama fresh out of the Colonial academy on his first starship fleet assignment, aboard the Battlestar Galactica.

Michael Fassbender, hot on the heels of playing Magneto in “X-Men: First Class,” has been added to the cast of “Prometheus,” Ridley Scott’s upcoming addition to the “Alien” movie franchise. He will join Noomi Rapace (“The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”), in the film that has a closely guarded plot. Fassbender will reportedly be playing an android, a staple of the franchise, though it will no longer serve as a prequel to the “Alien” series starring Sigourney Weaver.

In an interview with IFTN, casting director Ros Hubbard confirmed that Saoirse Ronan will reunite with her “Lovely Bones” director, Peter Jackson, and join the cast of “The Hobbit.” Her exact role has yet to be revealed.

TUNE IN ALERTS – Liam Neeson returns as Jedi Knight and voices Qui-Gonn Jin in Cartoon Network’s animated “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” in the first of a three-episode story arc.

Tom Hardy was announced to be play the villain Bane in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises,” and tonight on Cartoon Network’s “Young Justice,” you can familiarize yourself with the animated version of Batman’s next big screen arch enemy with the episode, “Drop Zone.”

Fox cult favorite “Fringe” scored high ratings in its first outing last week in its new Friday timeslot. Scoring the highest ratings of the night in the coveted 18-49 demo, the show may break the dreaded curse of being moved from Thursdays into what has been called dubbed the “Friday Night Death Slot” by fans.

“Smallville” was scheduled to return to The CW Friday fold tonight with an all-new episode featuring returning cast members Annette O’Toole as Martha Kent, Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan, and John Glover as Lionel Luthor (the presumed deceased father of Lex). “Collateral” will instead now air next Friday due to some last minute scheduling strategy by the network.